Vegetarian Foods?!

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MaeGracie
MaeGracie Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm a new vegetarian who is struggling getting enough protein in my diet. Does anyone know any good recipes or foods that are low in fat, but high in protein?

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Beans, tofu, tempeh, and seitan are all higher protein and lower fat foods.
  • jaebennetti
    jaebennetti Posts: 44 Member
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    I eat many vegetarian meals although I am not completely vegetarian. One of the things I do is make a small batch of spicy pinto beans. I cook the beans in the crockpot adding rotel tomatoes, spices, jalapeños, what ever you think and like really. I add those beans to salad, wraps, taco's, over cornbread or eat them plain. It is an easy, lowfat, cheap meal. You can also do a batch of them and freeze them in portions. It is one of my favorite easy meals.
  • sarahearra
    sarahearra Posts: 27 Member
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    As mentioned above, legumes, also nonfat Greek yogurt and chia seeds. I love this food blog: http://www.thegardengrazer.com/p/recipes.html . The food blog does use a lot of olive oil which is higher in fat, but is lower in saturated fats, so is considered healthy in moderation.
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    This should help: http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/appendix-5/

  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
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    When I was 19, I could not eat beans.
    I started by eating refried beans in a flour tortilla with a bit of low fat cheddar cheese.
    You can find cans of re-fried beans at the stores near where salsa and taco shells are sold.
    Makes a quick snack in between classes if you are in college.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Here are some fantastic bean recipes: http://www.thegardengrazer.com/2014/12/50-awesome-vegan-black-bean-recipes.html
  • ncfitbit
    ncfitbit Posts: 1,058 Member
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    If you like to cook I recommend a variant on the following vegetarian chili:
    http://www.cookinglight.com/food/vegetarian/vegetarian-chili-recipes/chipotle-black-bean-chili
    I add half a bag of vegetarian protein crumbles (in the freezer section) and that ups the protein to 23 grams per serving. I also add some cocoa powder or dark chocolate and it's wonderful!
  • viovision
    viovision Posts: 1 Member
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    It's a actually a common misconception that vegans or vegetarians are not getting enough protein. So many things have protein and it's not hard to get enough without even realizing it. here are just a few: rice, broccoli, beans, nuts, Quinoa, wheats, chickpeas, seitan, tofu, spinach. There are also protein vegan powders available in many stores and online if you want an extra boost. I'm a vegetarian of 9years, and vegan of 3months. (: hang in there, it's worth it.
  • augustremulous
    augustremulous Posts: 378 Member
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    I think the trick to getting enough protein as a vegetarian is to use your protein as your protein and your starch. Meat eaters are accustomed to having a piece of meat along with a side of vegetables and a reasonable portion of carbs. If you just replace the meat with beans or lentils or tofu or seitan, you're really not going to be getting much protein. Plus you'll be increasing your carbs/calories.

    Best thing to do is replace both your meat *and* your starch with the vegetarian protein, especially since many veggie protein sources have a bit of carbs in them.
  • mjwarbeck
    mjwarbeck Posts: 699 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Enough is a loaded word. I do believe that people eat way too much or have a misconception that they need far more than they actually do....not that it is bad...just unnecessary.

    As others have said, there are many option for sources of protein...but it does depend on what you mean by vegetarian: vegan, lacto ovo, etc

    In addition to the obvious protein sources like tofu, lentils, nuts...don't forget edamame or green chickpeas (we get them at Costco)...grains like amaranth and quinoa are great...especially red quinoa as you get texture too....

    My wife is essentially lacto ovo (will eat fish once a week). For Easter I made her a tofurkey (they are actually quite good), tonight a roasted butternut squash risotto, last night Sichuan boiled fish and tofu (love a good sweat) and veggies (bok choi, mushroom, edamame).

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